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Holly tornado: total destruction

1 DEAD, 11 INJURED

The devastation from Wednesday night's tornado in the Eastern Plains town of Holly was clear by daylight. Rescue crews searched for victims, while residents
sifted the debris for anything they could salvage. The tornado cut a swath 2.2 miles long and three to four city blocks wide. (Post / Hyoung Chang)

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The mother stranded in the tree died later - the storm's one fatality. Of the injured, seven were taken to hospitals outside the region.

The tornado cut a swath 2.2 miles long and three to four city blocks wide.

"Total destruction in a minute," said Jana Rushton, who barely made it into the basement before the windows began to explode.

On Thursday, rescue crews chopped trees and removed debris from the roads while volunteers handed out food and others helped residents find family photos and heirlooms.

Gov. Bill Ritter walked the area, asking residents where they hid and how they were doing.

At 3 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., issued a tornado watch for 31 counties on Kansas' western border and three counties in southeastern Oklahoma. National Weather Service meteorologists in the Pueblo office didn't think the storm would affect Colorado, so the state's eastern counties were only under a severe thunderstorm warning.

Just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, the scenario changed and the storm began moving rapidly, said meteorologist Bill Fortune.

Family and friends of Holly residents helped salvage clothing and other items that weren't destroyed in the twister. Said one resident: "We have to be thankful that we're alive." (Post / Hyoung Chang)

The Pueblo office was in the process of writing up a tornado warning when spotters began calling in that a twister had touched down.

"Resilience" on display

The red box on a post behind Rushton's home holds the tornado siren, which was silent Wednesday.

"We always joke about it, and this time it didn't go off," Rushton said. "... My husband was the last one down the stairs. The tornado ripped the door out of his hands, and he fell down the stairs."

Ritter viewed the devastation from a helicopter, through his windshield and on foot Thursday.

"It's devastating to see that," he said. "On the other hand, I was impressed by the resilience of the people.

Becky Kalma, 33, right, comforts her friend Janene Turner, 32, who lost her house to the tornado Wednesday night. Early Thursday morning, rescue crews searched for victims through dark streets littered with downed power lines, tree limbs and debris. (Post / Hyoung Chang)

The day after, they've rolled up their sleeves and begun the cleanup. They have such a toughness and such a hearty outlook about it."

The governor said he would help the community's appeal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance and marshal the aid of the state for recovery. U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave said she would be in Holly today.

Also today, FEMA and state and local officials will conduct a preliminary damage assessment of the area, said Jerry DeFelice, a spokesman for FEMA.

In Holly, volunteers came from miles away. A truckload of representatives from Atmos Energy, which provides natural gas to Holly, drove from Amarillo, Texas, to grill burgers for emergency workers and residents.

(Click to enlarge)

The Lamar Community College baseball team skipped classes and canceled practice to help people find their possessions.

"I've never seen anything quite like this in my life," said Burke Lieppman, 19, a player from Arizona. "I just keep looking around at the families. This is more important than thinking about anything else."

Giving thanks

Holly is the hometown of former Gov. Roy Romer, who was in Washington, D.C., but was calling friends there.

"It's such a big, big blow to such a small town," Romer said.

From the sidewalk, Rachel Ramos could be seen Thursday sitting on her couch making calls. The front wall of her home was torn away by the tornado, her pet birds in the living room left unharmed by the fierce wind.

Her husband, Graciano Ramos, surveyed the scene from outside. The roof was taken clean off, and he hasn't been able to find where it came down.

The couple moved into town from the outskirts in 1987 after a fire destroyed their home.

"We were hiding in the hallway and stuff starting falling on us and we went into the bathroom," Rachel Ramos said. "You know what, we have to be thankful that we're alive."

Diane Visage and her daughter Fayth, whose home was unaffected, walked the streets offering her house as a foster home to small animals including iguanas, rabbits, fish, birds, snakes and other rodents or reptiles.

The pair had walked over to North Main Street to check on Randy and Cindy Weigum. Randy is principal at Shanner Elementary School; Cindy is the former principal.

Pink insulation hung in shreds on trees near the broken body of the Weigum home.

The rubble came to rest more than 100 yards from its foundation in a pile of wood, doors, insulation, clothes and personal items. Paper wisped in the wind, and a broken toilet lay on its side. The bathtub stood upright a few yards away.

"It's hard; it's gone, everything," Randy Weigum said. "In the end, it's just stuff; it's these friends and family out here helping you that mean something."

The family was away Wednesday during the tornado, drawn their separate ways by a series of events they consider blessings. Daughter Crystal, 18, was at college in Fort Collins. Cindy had been at an appointment in Denver. Randy, who usually goes home to work late, decided to stay at the school to work. And at the last minute a friend convinced daughter Jessie, 16, to get off the couch and go to the church's youth group meeting.

"When I saw the house, I just started crying because I was so close to staying home and finishing my movie," Jessie said.

Thursday the family picked through the rubble. They laughed some and cried some.

In the middle of the search, Jessie brought a drawer full of papers to her mother. Cindy looked through it and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing birth certificates and shot records.

Reunited the night of the tornado, Cindy, Randy and Jessie stood on the lonely patio and prayed for strength and courage.

"We had a lot of things to say," said Randy, with tears in his eyes. "First we gave thanks that we were all able to stand there on our patio; even though the rest of it wasn't there, we were there."